Thrilling One Way
by rustyfeed
Summary: Lily Masuda was living a comfortable life as a photographer in a busy cafe. Things got more interesting when she was recruited to be in a team that forces her to attend college. She didn't mind, as her creative skills will have a chance to shine.


Cheapness kills- a thought Lily always kept on her mind.

A young freelance photographer on a local cafe, it was enough to support her basic needs: meals, clothes, personal hygiene, allowance, and other necessities she must buy. She knew how to divide her salary on these things, and she always had more than enough savings for emergency situations.

Living this rather mundane life will drive a generic young adult labeled as "millenial" crazy, as majority of them hates being stuck on low class jobs, and they wanted to earn a quick fat buck without exerting much effort. They also tend to rely on cheap-priced food and things just to go with the trending hits and go along with the flow. They wanted to be popular, get a lot of friends, and look high and mighty.

Not for someone like Lily. She rather be healthy and happy than stress about missing out on limited offers and pre-orders on overpriced items she didn't even need.

Lily's workshift ranges from noon to afternoon, enough to make sure the cafe was stuffed with customers. Capturing the customers' happy moments was enough to give joy to her heart. She loved seeing people smiling and laughing as it helps her relieve her own stress. Fortunately for her, even with her unfriendly demeanor, she can still attract people without much conflict. Being active on lending a help, as well as using her smooth-talk to convince people to snap a shot for them, she managed to had a good amount of networks to rely on as well as loyal customers.

If push does come to shove, Lily always kept her cool and be rational on the situation. Instead of engaging and getting provoked, she would call the manager's attention and let her deal the situation. The manager always listened to all sides, as she managed to solve the conflict with both parties problem's addressed.

Payment for her freelance photography was solid, as it depends on the amount of customers inside the cafe, and how the shot was taken. She doesn't allow reshots unless the customer was willing to pay additional fees as a compensation for the wasted shutter on her camera. The customer also needed to get all the photos taken as she doesn't like it when a shot was wasted into nothing. The young woman was strict on her camera's shutter count.

When she wasn't taking photos of customers, Lily lends a helping hand on decorating the cafe's interior. Her creativity and artistic mind made a huge impact on making the cafe more presentable. The cafe founder was the manager herself, and working with two heads helped improved the design, where normally doing it alone couldn't see.

As strange as it sounded, Lily and the manager weren't that close. Lily recently started three months ago, and Lily was far too busy capturing moments while the manager was busy preparing orders. They barely had time to hang out because Lily always go home when her time was done.

As her shift was coming to a close, Lily spent her remaining minutes cleaning up her mess before signing out. She never took things for granted, as experience taught her to be a better person. As much as she wanted to, cleaning up the customer's mess wasn't a part of her job, so she had to leave it alone. Packing her belongings inside her black plain backpack, she breathed a sigh of relief. Today was a success. She managed to earn more than yesterday.

Seeing that the manager wasn't around, Lily decided to order a quick snack before she head home. She ordered a tall glass of lemon iced tea, and one of the popular choice in the cafe: the savory butter muffin. It was her number favorite treat. The cashier gave her a small smile as she served her order. Lily returned the friendly gesture.

The young woman sat on the vacant seat, located at the array of selections. She didn't like sitting near the window as she felt she lack privacy with various people glancing at her direction. Besides, she prefer the soothing atmosphere of people casually chatting amongst themselves. She also knew it was already cliche to had an inner monologue on that area.

Lily ate her meal in complete silence. She took out her notebook and scribbled down notes as she listened to various noises as music.

With the spacious interior despite its small size, the cafe can accommodate an estimated ten customers max. The chairs were comfortable soft sofa seats wrapped in smooth leather. The atmosphere was calming and gives off a friendly and trustworthy vibe by its various shades of blue on walls and decorations. The room was plastered with motivational quotes and friendly advises for customers to brighten up their day.

Despite being a photographer, Lily ran her own blog. At home, when she wasn't busy with cleaning and resting, she would compose her own music. She posted various poems and lyrics online, and was met with generally positive receptions. This led her to do had additional earnings thanks to her fans' donations as they purchase her own EP album when she managed to compile the tracks that was a fan favorite.

Thanks to her hobby, it slowly led her to create her own fictional novels which could be read online for free. Her belief was that people needed to see information for free, especially if they weren't studying like her.

Lily managed to graduate high school, but didn't continue to go to college. She felt like she had learned enough and college would only waste her time. She had a job and she was happy, why add more unnecessary stress with crappy school works?

Gulping down her remaining beverage after consuming her meal, she stretched out her arms and let out a yawn. Nothing beats a good meal and a full stomach.

Before she had a chance to leave, her eyes caught two strangers approaching her seat. Customers, she guessed, but it was clear it was past her job time. The man took a step forward and held out his hand, a soft smile curved on his lips. His appearance was... soothingly eerie. His long strands of purple hair was held up in a ponytail, and he was clad in long-sleeved polo shirt and slacks with varying shades of violet.

"You're Lily Masuda, right?"

Lily glanced up at the two. Little did she know, they weren't here for her as a photographer.

They're here for something else.


End file.
